omg, this is taking forever, poor nyc. actually nyc has only one supertall by roof height, what a shame, what a pity. good luck fellows with your wtc rebuilding. maybe it's finished all by 2030.

The Freedom Tower is perfectly on schedule compared to other towers of its scale. The International Finance Center in Hong Kong took 6 years to build, as did Taipei 101. And the Shanghai World Financial Center took 12 years to build. Because of the added security features and complexity of the WTC site, add another year to 6. 7 years sounds about right to me. They started construction in 2007 and will be done in 2013.

And yes, they are pouring the lobby floor on the South side of the core today.

I know much care has been taken to make the height relative to things like the old WTC and a special year in US history but are the plaza or memorial levels relative to the original centre ? I remember standing right at the corner of WTC 1 back in 2000 taking pics and in awe of the two massive towers rising beside me. If I ever visit NY after this project is complete I would surely stand in the same location beside the memorial footprint of WTC 1 but wonder if it would be the actual position / same level above sea level ? That is why I would have liked the stairway to stay in it's original location as it gave reference to what is now completely gone. From these photographs looks like the level may be lower, level with West Side Highway, not the highest side of the site like the original plaza.

__________________"Make no small plans, for they have not power to stir the blood" - Daniel H. Burnham

I know much care has been taken to make the height relative to things like the old WTC and a special year in US history but are the plaza or memorial levels relative to the original centre ? I remember standing right at the corner of WTC 1 back in 2000 taking pics and in awe of the two massive towers rising beside me. If I ever visit NY after this project is complete I would surely stand in the same location beside the memorial footprint of WTC 1 but wonder if it would be the actual position / same level above sea level ? That is why I would have liked the stairway to stay in it's original location as it gave reference to what is now completely gone. From these photographs looks like the level may be lower, level with West Side Highway, not the highest side of the site like the original plaza.

It'll all be level with the surrounding streets this time instead of being raised above the ground.

I know much care has been taken to make the height relative to things like the old WTC and a special year in US history but are the plaza or memorial levels relative to the original centre ? I remember standing right at the corner of WTC 1 back in 2000 taking pics and in awe of the two massive towers rising beside me. If I ever visit NY after this project is complete I would surely stand in the same location beside the memorial footprint of WTC 1 but wonder if it would be the actual position / same level above sea level ? That is why I would have liked the stairway to stay in it's original location as it gave reference to what is now completely gone. From these photographs looks like the level may be lower, level with West Side Highway, not the highest side of the site like the original plaza.

The floor of the memorial plaza will be at the same level as the floor of lobby of the original towers (meaning even with West Street). I unfortunately never had the pleasure of visiting the towers so I'm trying to sound like I know more than you, but as I'm sure you're aware, the plaza was basically an elevated platform to make room for the concourse, about 15-20 feet above West Street and about 5 feet above Church Street. I think this design, having the memorial floor at the same elevation as the original lobby floor instead of the plaza floor, is the best idea.

Keep in mind though that the memorial plaza in that pic isn't the final elevation of the memorial. On top of this will be I THINK about 6 feet of dirt to allow for the 400 trees, then on top of that will be cobblestones. So, the final completed memorial plaza will be about 6 feet above where it is now.